Tag: timber harvest

Washington Forest Protection Association, the State’s oldest timber group, is taking legal action to protect private forest landowner’s property rights from Ordinance No. 412 adopted by Grays Harbor County Commissioners, July 7, 2014. The ordinance removes private timberland from its constitutionally designated forest land status, should landowners attempt to control access to their private property through a fee system.

A press release from the WFPA today said that landowners understand the recreational benefits their land offers to the general public and would like to keep their land open for public access, but that has become increasingly challenging and costly in recent years. Many landowners have established recreational access programs attempting to balance public access to their private property while managing environmental damage and over-use associated with wide-open access. Private forest landowners want to create good experiences for the public to recreate, fish, hunt, and enjoy their property by allowing access to their property for a fee. This helps landowners reduce the environmental and physical damage that occurs with wide-open use of their property.
“Our association and industry enjoys a strong working relationship in timber communities, such as Grays Harbor County and as such, I am disappointed that the recently passed ordinance now requires us to bring legal action against the county. Counties are the biggest beneficiary of the timber harvest excise tax, receiving 80% of the taxes upon timber harvest. Attempting to remove the basic right to control access to private property by adopting this county ordinance is illegal. As a longtime supporter of county government, it is unfortunate that it has come to this point, but we have no choice except to protect private landowners’ rights by taking legal action,” said Mark Doumit, Executive Director of the Washington Forest Protection Association.

Under the state’s Constitution, a tax system was designed “to encourage forestry and restocking and reforesting of such forests,” by taxing the timberland and timber harvested separately. Called the “current use” tax system, landowners are taxed on the bare land value of operating a tree farm, and unlike any other harvested crop in the state, landowners are also taxed on the trees when harvested. The county receives 80% of the tax on the trees in addition to the property tax. Ordinance No. 412 attempts to remove this taxation system if landowners control access to their property through a fee, and place timber into the same tax category as shopping malls, and housing developments.

Forest landowners believe this is illegal, and contrary to the very policy that lawmakers developed to encourage landowners to grow trees and maintain their land in forestry, instead of converting to another land use. If the county ordinance somehow was implemented, landowners would be forced to close off their lands to public access, or risk being placed in a tax category that is mismatched for growing trees.
Seventy-eight percent of Grays Harbor County is forested. Private forest landowners own 60% of the forestland. Forestry contributes to the economy by paying 14% of Grays Harbor County direct wages, and supporting a total of 6,087 jobs. Working forests, those managed for timber harvesting and replanting, pay more than $275 million in wages annually and $13 million in taxes, which primarily goes to the county. In 2012, timber harvest in Grays Harbor County was the second highest in the state, and provided enough wood to build 47,000 homes.

About WFPA

The Washington Forest Protection Association represents private forest landowners growing and harvesting trees on about 4 million acres in Washington State. Members of the 106-year-old association are large and small companies, individuals and families who practice sustainable forestry in Washington’s private forests. For more information, go to www.wfpa.org.

Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark has announced new requirements for proposed timber harvests near potential landslide hazard areas. Applicants for harvest permits will be required by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which Commissioner Goldmark administers, to provide a detailed site review by a qualified geologist when DNR determines that a timber harvest near unstable slopes could affect public safety.

“When questions began to be asked if a timber harvest conducted before I took office may have contributed in some way to the tragic Oso Landslide, I promised that DNR would thoroughly investigate these concerns using sound science and take appropriate action,” said Goldmark. “While that investigation is ongoing, DNR is taking the added precaution of requiring site-specific geologic review of any harvest application involving potential geological hazards that is in close proximity to public safety considerations. This added scrutiny provides more information to help properly identify potential hazards and avoid impacts.”

“This is part of my commitment to ensure that Washington State has a scientifically rigorous and ecologically sustainable regulatory environment for timber harvest,” said Goldmark. Since Goldmark took office in 2009, the State Forest Practices Board, which is chaired by Commissioner Goldmark’s delegate, has eliminated loopholes that allowed non-specific and outdated Watershed Analysis prescriptions for landslide areas, improved harvest protections for riparian zones, strengthened protections for cultural resources, and convened a special northern spotted owl conservation advisory group.

Commissioner Goldmark is acting on recent recommendations from the independent science and policy program, the Adaptive Management Program, which is in place to evaluate Washington’s Forest Practices Rules. A study of 2007 landslides in southwest Washington resulted in recommendations delivered in February, 2014 from the Program’s multi-stakeholder policy committee. No changes to current Forest Practices Rules were recommended, but the group recommended that DNR develop additional documentation requirements and make other improvements, such as seeking funding from the legislature to acquire higher-quality LiDAR topography data.

DNR’s new requirement that a “geotechnical report” be prepared is consistent with the policy committee’s recommendations. Geotechnical reports are already required for applications that propose to harvest timber on potentially unstable topographic features. DNR’s action extends that requirement where public safety considerations exist in the area, even when the application itself does not include potentially unstable features.